Project Updates - Part II

MBA & TLC
Where to begin on the beekeepers? The FOM grant money has been well spent and over 100 hives have already been completed. The carpenters are hard at work while the remaining 80 planks are on the way. There was quite a bit of drama surrounding the transport of the planks. We paid the head of Parks & Wildlife at Nyika (Mr. Zamini) Mk. 14,000 for fuel to transport 200 planks from Chilenda to Mwazisi. The whole event was a disaster but 120 planks plus free discards made it to Mwazisi, meanwhile I lost my sanity. It took three days in the cold, rainy plateau and most of it spent arguing to the get the planks here. Once they made it, as I expected, Zamini cancelled the deal on the remaining planks and demanded another Mk. 14,000 to bring the rest. The man is a swindler, I knew the day I met him, silver-tongued he oozes of distrust and reeks of the criminal. However, we literally had no choice. I’ve called him numerous times since the first shipment and each time he has a new excuse on why he cannot bring the planks. The Parks department makes trips at least once a month to take the staff to a nearby boma to buy supplies and food. Chilenda is isolated and more trips are made, it’s just that this man wants some more money in his pocket and we don’t have any left. Private trucks transport large shipments of wood almost once a week to various selling points along the main road and to the boma. One of the selling points is Chitanga, the village next to Mwazisi. These trucks are owned by local merchants and definitely carry a little on top for friends and chiefs. That’s when I had the idea to try these trucks and even if they only carry 10-20 extra planks each trip they would eventually bring our remainder. Fortunately, the lead carpenter for the hive project is friends with a chief in Chitanga, whose son is a driver for the lumber trucks. He agreed to bring some planks each trip and the best part is it would only cost us Mk.500 per set transported. The plan is in motion, let’s hope it works. In the meantime, the Executive Committee is scouting an ideal location to hang the hives. Due to transport logistics in the rains the site maybe moved from Vwaza to Nyika.

Running parallel to up starting the Mwazisi Beekeepers is a greater project from Total Land Care. TLC’s Kulera Biodiversity Project has two years left on the clock and one of major segments is the amalgamation of all beekeeping groups in Nyika. Once combined, the new enterprise will explore opportunities in bottling and marketing honey under its own brand, perhaps even internationally. Currently, Mzuzu Coffee Growers bulk buys the honey from beekeepers around Nyika at an astonishingly low price. The farmers make virtually nothing and the company bottles and sells the honey at a significant premium. Cutting out this middle man is next logical step for these beekeepers that already produce quality honey in large quantities. Combining all the groups will enable a stable and constant supply of honey, which is crucial for any successful business. Also, the quantity will be in the hundreds of tones, enough to satisfy both residential and commercial customers. And most importantly, the new enterprise will redistribute profits back to the farmer and generate new income sources for many rural families. TLC has already sent consultants to analyze the prospects of this project. There is an office in Hayway filled with honey processing equipment that is unused. It was from an old grant provided by an NGO many years ago. The office is still there and I suggested that the new group use the facility for commencing processing. Mwazisi’s group will be merged into the larger group. Hopefully next week I and Mr. Mkandawire (TLC’s Northern chief) will travel to Thazima and meet with Duncan, the chairman of the Thazima Beekeepers Association. TBA is the largest honey producing group in Nyika and has been in existence since the 1980s. They are the biggest suppliers to Mzuzu Coffee and will serve as the central group once all the groups are combined. As with any large undertaking, we will see how this plays out.